If you need a push in the right direction or you know of someone who hasnot reached their full potential the this is for you. Love it and will gift it to friends and family his best book yet. I would give it ten stars if I could.
As a student of the presidency, I'm nearly at a loss to describe how interesting and important the essays in this collection are. This high quality is just what I've come to expect from the scholars and writers at the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and if I could give this title six or seven stars, I would.As in any collection of essays, some of the ones here assembled are better than others. Taken as a whole, though, they are a powerful indictment of how the increasing centralization of power in the office of the presidency has resulted in the destruction of America's heritage of individual liberty and decentralized government.Some of the articles that struck me as particularly valuable (or just as fascinating reads) include:
* H. Arthur Scott Trask's study of Thomas Jefferson. This is one of the best attempts I've yet seen to grapple with the question, not only of whether Jefferson himself can justly be called a 'libertarian,' but also the specific issue of whether his two terms as president advanced or hindered the cause of liberty.
* Marshall L. DeRosa's 'Supreme Court as Accomplice: Judicial Backing for a Despotic Presidency.' While all three branches of government are to blame for the centralization of power in Washington, the Supreme Court has, at key points in history, been particularly destructive. DeRosa gives us chapter and verse.
* Randall G. Holcombe's 'The Electoral College as a Restraint on American Democracy.' This article goes beyond other analyses of the Electoral College in explaining how the Founders really intended the body to function, why it never did, and how it was early corrupted and twisted by the influence of party and faction.
* William Marina's excellent 'From Opponent of Empire to Career Opportunist: William Howard Taft as Conservative Bureaucrat in the Evolution of the American Imperial System.' In tracing Taft's career, Marina shows how foreign and domestic empire-building inevitably go hand-in-hand. This is an insightful and unexpectedly timely essay.
The two concluding essays, by Hans-Hermann Hoppe and Clyde N. Wilson, are also excellent summaries of the changing nature of the presidency and the likelihood, or lack thereof, for meaningful change. Other essays -- including those by Thomas J. DiLorenzo (of 'The Real Lincoln' fame), Ralph Raico, Joseph R. Stromberg, Jeffrey Rogers Hummel, and editor John V. Denson -- are of similar high quality. Space prevents me giving each of them the raves they deserve.
Each of these essays challenges the accepted hagiography of the presidency as an office, and of individual presidents as well. The men generally voted by historians as among our 'greatest' chief executives -- notably FDR, Lincoln, and Truman -- are proven in these pages to have been among the worst, most dangerous, and least worthy of canonization. The Mises Institute is never afraid to challenge the old orthodoxies (founder Lew Rockwell has called for the abolition of the office of the presidency altogether), and here they have done so, not only with skill and insight, but almost compulsive readability as well.
I have no hesitation, even now, in declaring this my Book of the Year for 2002 (it was published in 2001, but I'm a little behind in my reading). It's a bit of an effort to carry around, but it's definitely worth the exertion.
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I was fascinated by the premise of Financial Darwinism and found myself agreeing with most of its conclusions and remedies. The subject matter is extremely timely right now. Investors, politicians, and financial people are struggling to understand the new financial world order. An astounding amount of leverage and risk was not at all visible before this crisis and resulting losses were surprising, to say the least. 
Investors contemplating retirement, but stunned by losses sustained in the extended bear market that began in the spring of 2000, will find hope and encouragement in Wall Street Journal columnist Jonathan Clements' "Now What?". This is a do-it-for-yourself repair strategy for baby boomers with badly damaged bubble portfolios. First, face facts, we are told: You've got a "bone-head" portfolio, and it's not likely to come back in value, so sell your losers. Forget the "foolish beat-the-market fantasy" promoted by Wall Street's brokerage houses and money management firms. Invest to capture market returns with stock index funds. Diversify with stocks, bonds, and real estate. Specifically, you should own large and small US stocks and foreign stocks. For the bond portion of your portfolio, use inflation indexed treasuries and short-term corporate funds, and to boost your income, consider high yield bond mutual funds. Clements recognizes that "this will be the decade of the dividend and interest payment". So, REITS (real estate income trusts) with their high, single-digit returns, should represent 10-15% of your portfolio. In all this, Jonathan Clements is in good company: W. Bernstein, C. Ellis, B. Malkiel, L.Swedroe, B. Schultheis, et.al., have recently written (or updated) books with similar conclusions. Clements' contribution is in the timeliness of his insistence that boomers can salvage their own retirement plans by acting to keep investment costs in check, diversifying, and saving "like crazy". Indeed, the investment process should be simple to follow. "Why are we such sluts for sophistication?" Clements asks with exasperation. Readers may be skeptical that a fifty-year old, in an example, who hasn't saved a "nickel" for retirement can accomplish much by age sixty-five. But this late starting investor is not the book's primary focus. 'Gilding the Golden Years' (Chapter 7) is one of the author's better chapters. Investing may be "simple", but it is also an art, so this frequently quoted columnist's portfolio advice is of value. Clements is clearly intrigued by a strategy of establishing multiple sources of investment income during retirement. In addition to income from social security, 401k-style plans, pensions, and humbled securities portfolios, investors might consider an immediate annuity, a reverse mortgage, or even part-time work. After all, if it's true that investors should take no more than five percent of their investment assets each year for income, working part-time to earn five thousand dollars is like having another hundred thousand dollars in retirment assets. And an unconventional idea like a reverse mortgage may take on a new practicality for today's generation of soon-to-be retired. Investors paralyzed by their recent bear market experience will find sound, helpful advice in this book.
This is one of the most useful trading books I've seen in a long long time.
Of all the books I've read on Mutual Funds this one is a true all rounder of a book on the subject. This authoritative work is a must read for beginners and seasoned professionals alike.
I used this book to study for SOA exam P and loved it! If you already have some background in statistics and probability, this is the book to go. It will fill in the blanks left by your average school textbook and give you the nesessary coverage of the exam material.